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H. F. READ.

VISE. I No. 269,709. Patented Dec. 26, 1882.

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' VISE.

Patented Dec. 26, 1882.

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H. F. READ. vIsi.

Patented 1300.26, 1882.

HENRY F. READ, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO READ, GLEASOX 80 READ,OF SAME PLACE.

\QIISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,709, dated December26, 1882.

Application filedSeptember8,1882. (Nomodeld .To all whom it may concernBe it known that I, HENRY FRANKLIN READ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn,in the county of Kings and State of New York,haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Vises, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In this vise the movable jaw is adapted for parallel movement within thebody or box of the fixedjaw, with a screw working in a fixed half-nut,with which it is automatically engaged and disengaged by the action of amovable half-nut, asliding locking device to maintain the engagement,and a lever device operated thereby to release the engagement, wherebyto allow the movablejaw to be freed from control of the screw, so thatit may be moved in and out by hand,or to be controlled by the screw tofirmly grasp the article between the jaws, In this combination thesliding device not only looks the screw in action by sliding over itsend, but operates the lever device to raise and free the screw from thefixed half-nut by the same movement of the sliding device which carriesit free ofthe screw. The fixed jaw body or partis mounted upon aball-and-socket joint, in which a screw-cap is combined with anintermediate clampingring to lorm a convenient and efficient device forsetting and holding the jaws in any desired position.

The objects of my improvements are to provide for locking the screw withthe fixed halfnut and for freeing it therefrom when unlocked, and toprovide effective means for clamping the ball-and-socket universaljoint.

The accompanying drawings represent a vise whereby these objects areattained, in which- Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal sectionof the vise as it appears when the screw is locked in position forcontrolling the movable jaw; Fig. 2,a similar section, the screw beingshown in unlocked position and raised from the fixed half-nut to allowthe movablejaw to he slid in and out by band; Fig. 3, a cross-sectiontaken on the line as w of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a similar section taken on theline 0 o of Fig. 2; Fig. 5, an end view of the cover the end of thescrew and to-operate the I releasing-lever device to raise the end ofthe screw from its locked position with the fixed half-nut; Fig. 8, abottom-view of thelocking .aud releasing device, and Figs. 9 and 10 showin elevation the locking and releasing device in the position when thescrew is locked and in the position when itis unlocked.

The non-sliding jaw A is formed upon a guide-box, a, open at both ends,secured upon the screw-stem b of a ball, 0, seated in asocket of thebase-casting B, which is screwed to the bench. The movable jaw O, isformed upon one end of a hollow bar or slide, D, open at the bottom,adapted to fit and slide within the open guide-box, and carries theoperatingscrew. A half-nut, E, is secured within the guide-box upon itsbottom, and is of a length greater than the extent ofthe movement of theslidingjaw. It does not join the inner \'ertical walls of the guide-box,but leaves a space on each side to receive the side plates of the hollowbar or slide, as shown in Figs. 3 and at; The half-nut E is bent down atits rear end and screwed to the guide-box, its front endbe ing screwedto a horizontal front projection of said box. The operating-screw F hasthe usual sliding hand-lever,f,and is secured to the front end of thehollow bar D by a key-plate. d, fitted within a groove of thescrew-stem, so that the jaw-bar and screw must move together. A movablehalf-nut, G, is fitted within the hollow bar, is always engaged with thescrew, and is'moved by its being held in such engagement by aplate-spring, e, pinned to the top of the half-nut, and bearing upon theunder side 0 of the top of the hollow bar. This movable half-nut is ofslightly greater length than the screw, the length of which itselfisabout onequarter that of the fixed half-nut, within which it engages andis locked to place the movable 5 jaw under the control of the screw togrip and hold the article placed between the jaws. The disengagement ofthe screw allows the movablejaw to he slid in and out by hand, so as tobe quickly adjusted to the position to admit the article betweenthejaws, when the screw may be at once brought into working position togive the required grip upon the article. The locking of the screw isefi'ected by means of a sliding locking device, using the screw itselfto receive the locking action of said device to hold the screw in firmengagement with the teeth ot'the fixed rack, in order to operate withthe screw. This locking device is a slide, g, formed with aconcave end,9, and a stem provided with a spiral spring, h, which exerts a constantpressure upon the slide to maintain it in locked position. The lockingdevice is fitted within a box, H, secured within thehollow bar, openatone end and closed at t be other,

and within which the locking-slide is free to be moved toward and fromthe end of the screw, with its stem passing through a holein the closedend of the box. The springh presses at one end against the closed end ofthe box and at the other against a shoulder of the slide to force theconcave end ofthe latter out of the box in position over the end of thescrew. For this purpose the screw terminates in an unthreaded end, i, ofa diameter to be received in the concave of the locking device, so as toallow the screw to be revolved while being held in engagement with thefixed half-nut.

To release the screw froinits locked relation with the fixed half-nut, Iprovide a right-angled lever pinned within the box H, so that one end,n, stands vertically within a slot, 1, in the locking-slide g, and theother end, it, lies horizontally in a slot in the bottom of the box, isconcave on its upper side, and receives over it the unthreaded end 2" ofthe screw, which has a diameter less than that of the unthreaded end t.The slot 1' allows of a sutficient movementof the slide 9 to carry itsconcave end over the nnthreaded end i of the screw, a shoulder in thebox serving as a stop to limit such forward movement. By thisconstruction, the slide, when extended, locks the screw down, and whenretracted to uncover the cylindrical part 'i of the screw forces backthe upper end, a, of. the lever and raises its lower end, a, against thecylindrical part t" of the screw, raising it free of the fixed half-nut.This backing out of the slide is effected by turning the screw to theleft, which causes the movable half-nut to be carriedback against theprojecting end of the locking device, so as to force it back, as stated.1n turning the screw to the right the movable half-nut is moved awayfrom contact with thelockingdevice, dcpressing the liftingend of thelever, and under the pressure of the spring upon the movable half-nutthe screw is again engaged with the fixed half-nut. About one revolutionof the screw is sutficient to engage it with and to effect itsdisengagement from the fixed half-nut. The division of the nut into afixed and a movable part gives the advantage ofusing the fixed part withthe screw and the movable part as a separate device to force the screwin engagement with the fixed half-nut, to unlock the screw, and toindirectly'operate the lever, whereby the screw can then be lifted by itto free it of the fixed half-rack.

The construction ot'thc device by which the jaws can be adjusted in anydesired position is as follows:

The base is formed with a raised part having a hemispherical concavityto receive the ball 0, upon the stem of which thenon-sliding jaw-body ismounted and forms a universal swivel-joint. A screw-thread is cut aroundthe circumference ofthe raised base part to receive an open-topscrew-cap, I, and in connection with which and the ball an intermediatering-chi mp, J, is arranged to receive the pressure of the screw-cap.The ring-clamp being seated upon the ball and forming a .bearing for thescrew-cap, the ball is thereby firmly clamped in the desired position.The ringclamp is prevented from turning in swiveling and adjusting thevise by one or more holdingpins, 8 s, in the top of the raised partinwhich the socket is formed, over which recesses in the under side ofthe ring-clamp fit, whereby the ring is held from revolving andunscrewing the cap while operating the vise.

The screw-cap is formed with an interior projecting top rim, v, whithforms a bearing upon the fiat upper surface of the ring-clamp, the innersurface of which is a segmentof a circle coinciding with the radius ofthe ball. The screw-cap has a series of holes, w, in itscircun'ifereuce, within which a lever, 00, may be inserted to screw orunscrew it, as may be desired, to adjust the vise.

It will be understood that the releasing device for the screw operatesat the time the locking device leaves the largest unthreaded part of thescrew and the end upon which the lever-releasing device acts must besmall enough to allow it to be lifted within the con cave end of thelocking device, and thereby allow the free end of the screw to havesufficient vertical movement to raise it clear of the fixed half-nut,the stem of the screw having sufficient play in its bearing for thispurpose.

To prevent the dirt and filings from working into the joint of the screwat the front end ofthe slidingjaw, a circular recess, t, isformed in thefront end of the hollow bar to receive a washer, a, and the large end Fof the screw which enters said recess a suflicient distance to cover thejoint between the washer and the screw-head. The screw-head just outsideof the recess has a groove,z, or depression around it, joining the frontedge of the recess, which serves to receive and facilitate the slidingoff of the filings which pass onto the screw-head from the curved frontof the movablejaw,and thus prevent an accumulation of the filings atthis point, and necessarily lessening the wear and clogging ofthejoint,andleaving the screw free to be easily revolved.

The universal jointin its adaptation for separate and distinct uses willbe made by me the subject of another application for Letters Patent, asit is applicable to other uses.

I claim- 1. The combination, in'a vise, of the screw F, havingunthreaded terminal parts of unequal diameters, the'fixed half-nut E,the movable half-nut G,and a depressing-spring, e,theret'0r, with thesliding locking device g, a projecting spring, h, and a lever devicepivoted toa fixed part of the vise, having one end connected to thesliding locking device and the other in such relation to the terminalunthreaded end of the screw of least diameter as to operate to lift itby the same movement of the lockingdevice by which it is carried free ofthe screw.

2. The combination, in a vise, ot' the screw F, having nnthreadedterminal parts of unequal diameters, and the fixed half-nut E, with aslidinglocking device,g, having the slotrand a spring-bearing, themovable half-nut G for driving thelocking device back, and therightangled lever pivoted Within the box of the locking-slide, havingone end, 02, extending into the slot thereof, and the other, n,extending beneath the smallest terminal end of the screw, allconstructed and adapted for operation substantially as described, forthe pure and h, and the lever device pivoted to the fixed box, allconstructed, arranged, and adapted for operation substantially as hereinvset forth.

4. The combination, with the fixed and movable jaws of a vise, of auniversal swiveling joint, consisting of the base formed with a verticalprojection having a concave socketand a circumferential screw-cap, and anon-turning ring-clamp interposed between the screw-cap and the ball andbearing upon the latter, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' HENRY F. READ. Witnesses:

A. E. H. JOHNSON, J. W. HAMILTON JOHNSON.

